Residential segregation rewards whites while punishing people of color
URBAN EDGE : September 21, 2020
From 1980 to 2015, homes in white neighborhoods increased in value, on average, $194,000 more than in neighborhoods of color, according to new research. And the rate of the gap in assessed values of these comparable homes in comparable neighborhoods is getting larger over time.
A summer fellowship is the bridge to AmeriCorps service in Fifth Ward
URBAN EDGE : August 17, 2020
The Kinder Institute’s Community Bridges program provides Rice University students an opportunity to both study and work to address urban inequality in Houston. Here’s Susanna Yau’s story of how working with the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation changed her life.
Imbalance, inequality and the growing burden on working parents with school-age kids
URBAN EDGE : July 24, 2020
While children attend K-12 public schools for an average of 1,195 hours per year, a full-time working parent averages twice as much time, about 2,450 hours per year, working and commuting. Now, as school districts prepare to reopen for the fall semester — whether in-person, virtually or a combination of both — administrators, teachers, parents and students are having to adjust their plans based what’s possible during the coronavirus pandemic.
Why does it take so long to vote?
URBAN EDGE : July 13, 2020
Overall, waiting times may be improving — but long waits are still common in Black communities. As the percentage of nonwhite voters in a precinct increases, so do wait times.
Monumental changes require removing monuments to the Confederacy
URBAN EDGE : July 8, 2020
Americans once again are calling for and debating the removal of Confederate monuments. Some want them to remain, claiming they are part of their heritage. But these monuments are tied to a divisive history and the denial of the Black American experience. Leaving them in place only honors the Confederacy’s cause: To preserve the status quo and continue enslaving Black Americans.
Helping families find — and keep — affordable housing during these tough times
URBAN EDGE : June 24, 2020
Those who need affordable housing most have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic crisis. And organizations that help create affordable housing opportunities in Houston and Harris County for these families are facing challenges — some anticipated, others not — in this new and uncertain world.
Together, the bold cities of the I-10 corridor can take on the urgent issues of our time
URBAN EDGE : June 11, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare many of the disparities deeply rooted in our society. Given the technology available to us, such as data-gathering technologies, visualization systems and instantaneous communication, our ability to anticipate the future is unprecedented. Combining those resources with collective action, we can confront the issues we’re facing today and prepare for the challenging events of tomorrow.
The only treatment for metastatic racism may be radical reconstructive surgery
URBAN EDGE : June 8, 2020
From frequent recurrences of police brutality and the widening gaps in access to opportunity, to the coronavirus’ outsized impact on communities of color, the invasive disease of racism has spread throughout the American system. If white people truly mean well, they must make an unflinching commitment to the tough, unpleasant and honest work of authentic change.